About

Welcome.

I am Jean-Louis Robadey, a Geneva-based advisor, consultant, facilitator, capacity-builder, and implementer who supports social impact and sustainable development initiatives. My practice supports leaders, funders, innovators, connectors, and ecosystem builders whose initiatives advance positive social, environmental, and economic outcomes aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals.

With over 30 years of international experience advancing ambitious sustainable development initiatives in executive leadership and senior advisory roles, I assist clients in designing, funding, and implementing impact-oriented enterprises, programs, philanthropic projects, and collaborative platforms. From strategy to implementation, I help impact-driven clients move from vision to action and to measurable impact.

Career Journey

Originally trained in international affairs, with a focus on international development, at the Graduate Institute for International and Development Studies in Geneva and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University in Boston, I have dedicated my 30-year career to designing and implementing social impact and sustainable development initiatives, and strengthening mission-driven organizations to ensure they can deliver on their goals. I have held in-house executive roles and have served as a senior consultant and advisor to nonprofit, philanthropic, corporate, entrepreneurial, and public service impact initiatives.

Professional Experience

After beginning my career in Geneva, Switzerland, consulting with non-profit, governmental, and multilateral agencies, I spent 25 years based in the United States—in Washington, DC, San Francisco, and Seattle—working both domestically and internationally to advance social impact and sustainable development initiatives. I have led and supported efforts at a wide range of scopes and scales: from small and medium-sized NGOs operating locally or regionally, to innovative social enterprises, and larger non-profit, philanthropic, and cross-sector initiatives functioning at continental and international levels. Thematically, the initiatives I have led or supported have spanned climate action, nature conservation, environmental health, sustainable land use, community empowerment, health and human services, among others. Throughout my various roles, the consistent focus of my career has been to design responses to complex social, environmental, and economic challenges.

Roles

Prior to starting my current Geneva-based advisory practice, my primary roles have included:

  • Co-founder/Principal of the Regenerative Development Group, a firm specialized in developing financing mechanisms and raising funds for nature conservation and landscape restoration,

  • Director of fundraising and funder collaborations for the ClimateWorks Foundation, a global funder collaborative,

  • Vice-President for Strategic management and business development of Pact, Inc., an international development agency with a mission to advance civil society around the world,

  • Senior Manager, Public sector and non-profit practice, for Andersen Business Consulting, a global consulting and advisory firm.

These roles have enabled me to experience diverse contexts, sectors, and types of organizations—providing me with a concrete, pragmatic understanding of what it takes to build high-impact, high-capacity initiatives.

Expertise

At the core, I am a social impact builder—I design, develop, finance, and implement social impact and sustainable development initiatives, across sectors and types of organizations. I engage as a strategist, organizational development specialist, business model innovator, program designer and implementer, social innovator and entrepreneur, fundraiser, and partnership-builder in service of mission-driven leaders and organizations.

Areas of expertise include:

  • Non-profit capacity-building—strengthening non-profit organizational capacity, including governance, vision and mission, strategy, business model and organizational design, program development and operations, fundraising, partnership development, and strategic communications,

  • Philanthropic grant-making and impact investing—designing philanthropic strategies, operationalizing grant-making mechanisms, and facilitating collaboration among philanthropic funders,

  • Partnership development and fundraising—supporting the design and development of strategic partnerships, fundraising strategies, donor engagement, and impact reporting.

  • Social innovation and entrepreneurship—advancing innovation processes, turning ideas into programs and enterprises that create change,

  • Collaboration and dialogue—designing and facilitating collaborative and coalition-based initiatives and dialogues, creating consensus, and advancing collective impact.

    I apply this expertise to developing programs, enterprises, and collaborations that address climate change, environmental conservation, sustainable land stewardship, equitable economic development, political participation, or access to education, technology, and health and social services.

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Approach

I bring a collaborative, pragmatic, and service- and results-oriented approach to all my engagements to effectively support the developmental needs of the initiatives I work with. Working for social and environmental impact often involves addressing complex, interrelated issues within dynamic, multi-stakeholder contexts. This requires agility, the ability to operate in fluid and sometimes ambiguous environments, and adaptability to changing circumstances. Achieving meaningful results also demands the capacity to drive decisions and steer actions with clarity, avoiding paralysis, indecision, and unproductive processes.

My approach, across all my work, internalizes the unique complexities and characteristics of impact work. I develop frameworks and processes collaboratively and participatorily, ensuring that learnings, contributions, and insights from all voices and experiences are considered. I am both ambitious and pragmatic—encouraging bold and innovative action while realistically acknowledging what individuals and teams are prepared for. I drive toward decisions, actions, and results—while always maintaining agility and flexibility in implementation. I apply these principles consistently throughout my consulting practice.